Border Crossers
by Naergilien
Summary: If there was a passage to Middle Earth from our world, what would you expect to find? or: Tolkien invented Middle Earth - didn't he?
1. Tolkien Trip

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Disclaimer: The characters, settings, places, and languages used in this work are the property of J R R Tolkien, the Tolkien Estate and Tolkien Enterprises. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.  
**Betas:** Zee, Lenara, SoErl.  
**Notes:** My OFC(s) are mine; the Elves that Tolkien invented (he did, didn't he?) are not mine (what a pity!).   
A special "thank you" to the Kronos Quartet / Clint Mansell / Fatboy Roberts for the "Requiem Overture", giving me (and brought me through) several dark nights when writing this. Thanks to Xavier Naidoo and Rufus Wainwright for their music that inspired me. 

Thanks to the Goddess for letting me find peace and inspiration. And thanks to my ever-curious and inspiring beta readers, pushing me forward on each chapter.  
**Dedication:** This one is for the two only real Elves on earth; To the Silver One: You will always have a special place in my heart and memories; to the Golden One: You are a legend, a saint and the only true heir of Gil-Galad I know. Let's burn them down! :-)

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SPECIAL WARNING: There are real people avatars innocently depicted in this fic. They belong solely to themselves, no harm became of them and no offence is intended. It is just my way to pay the tribute to these real people, for without them, we would not have words and images of the wonderful Elves in our heads. 

It was one of these usual, busy and boring everydays while I was sitting in my office, replying emails, when I received the call from my dear friend, Chris.   
She was upset as she could be, and believe me, this woman was never upset since I gotten to know her some years ago, when she was still a stranger and just another customer to me. 

"I've won it! Dammit, Dana, I've won it!"  
"You've won what?"  
"That damned quiz... I've won it!"  
"Calm down, start again. What quiz, what did you win?"  
"Remember that Tolkien quiz?"

I searched my mind and found nothing. "No."

"Where they raffled that Tolkien trip?"  
"Tolkien trip?" I could imagine many trips, but a Tolkien trip? Wasn't he dead, after all...?

"That journey to England!"  
"You've won a trip to England?" Slowly, my memories of that came back to me. The Tolkien Trip: Wander around through the English countryside, on the footsteps of Tolkien. Nothing I was interested in too much; I always was of the opinion that if God had wanted the people to wander around, he wouldn't have given them cars. 

"Yes! Isn't it great?"

For someone who was addicted to Elves, maybe. For me... well...

"Yes, wonderful! When will your trip start?"  
"As soon as you have time."

I knew that there would be a problem.

"What do I have to do with your Tolkien trip?"

"Oh PLEASE! Dana, you must come with me, pleeease...."  
"You think the Brits will eat you if you go alone?"

Silence.  
"Chris... still there?"  
"Dana, please, this is a trip for two people and you have always been the only one understanding my... my..."

"...addiction?"

Yes, I knew she was addicted. She was what the "involved" people would call a "Pervy Elf Fancier" in a joke, and continuously complained about the corresponding T-shirt not being available in her size.   
I knew no magazine, no merchandise, no book, poster or print that Chris didn't own, pinned to her walls, stuffed in any of the large boards she had at home.   
Chris was a Tolkien addict, and the release of the movies made it worse. At that point of time, I had stepped into her life. I could sew, I had ideas; and she "needed" Elven costumes; to attend the cinema, weddings of friends or "just to wear at home". And I made them for her, with the finest imported materials; silks, embroidery, beading. If Chris would have had the usual body shape, she would have been the perfect elf, but her size was over twenty, and so some people looked at her rather strangely when she wore her gowns.  
But after all, I have to say that in the way she moved with them, the way they made her proud, she *was* still the perfect Elf to me, with a beauty that came from the inside. 

And she passed on some of her addiction to me.

And now she had won a Tolkien trip. And I should be the one to walk around with her through the English countryside.   
Congratulations. 

"You really expect this from me, don't you? You know how much I hate walking."  
"But you are the only one I know that would... that could..."

Yes, I knew that also. I was the only one that she could ask.   
And even if I hated walking, even if I didn't really want this; I thought that the three weeks of walking would do my ever corseted figure well. Yes, I am one of the rare humans in the present time still wearing corsets, ever since some back pain attacked me every few months, I got used to wear a corset every day. It was not too bad, as the human figure gets defined much better with a corset - no matter which size you have. 

So I agreed. 

"Ok, Chris. If you are sure you want me, I will come with you. But don't complain if you find me sitting on the side of the street after two days, without being able to walk any more."

Barely did I know that this decision I made would change my and her entire life. 

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Excerpt from Chris' Diary

YEAH! I've won! I've won! I can't believe it........I've won!! 

A while ago I took part in a Tolkien quiz. Actually I thought it was a fake because the questions were too simple: 

1. Who represents the Elves in the Fellowship? Leggy.....erm Legolas   
2. Name the March Warden of the Golden Woods? Haldir   
3. Name the Kingdom Gil-Galad ruled? Lindon   
4. Name the Ring that protected Lorien? Nenya 

I still can't believe it! I've won a Trip to England :   
Wander around through the english countryside, in the footsteps of Tolkien. 

Since the trip is for two, I need someone to come along who would not mind if I was constantly chatting about LOTR and who would understand my addiction to the books, movies, magazines about it......well that left only one person on the planet, if not in the whole universe:   
My good friend Dana. 

She is the only person who might call me "Pervy Elf Fancier" without making me angry...if she calls me so, I can't help but smile.   
She is right, even if I would never admit it aloud, I fancy Elves. No not those little flying something's in strange green garb which are soooo sweet *argl * .   
Elves like in Tolkien. The Firstborn, the Elder Children of Ìlùvatar, the Fair Folk,......those ageless, beautiful beings that could only be slain in battle or die of grief. (I bet they don't have weight problems.....*sigh* .....any chances I can change my race? No? Pity.)   
Elves that live forever. They have all the time in the universe......*sigh* I envy them. 

My granny read the Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit to me for the first time when I was four years old. When I was five, I began to read it myself and so it started .... Well, today, somewhat 30 years later, I still read the books from time to time...okay at least once a year. 

With the movies there where quizzes all over on the internet, magazines and TV- Shows and I attended just one.....and won. I never won a quiz or anything like that.......and I enter a Tolkien quiz and here comes the first price......hmmmmm......maybe a favor from Elbereth herself? 

And with this movie stuff all over, I met Dana at some point. I was dying to get a costume from the LOTR movies but none would sew me one, since I'm not your average Elf, when it comes to sizes. I wear over size 20. Hey I'm a mixture of Hobbit and Elf, and Tolkien just forgot to mention people like me. *ggg * 

I'm grateful that she shares her talent for sewing with others. And her costumes make me feel as I'm an Elf, those floating silk gowns.....*sigh*.....I wish I had the courage to wear my costumes every day....... 

But to the task at hand, to get Dana to England and convince her to walk around for 3 weeks.   
I got the tickets, the hotel vouchers, the maps, .....I just have to convince Dana to come with me......and here we go. 

And that will be a nearly impossible task. She hates to walk around. If someone was born to drive, that would be Dana. She hates to walk. Plain and simple.   
She would complain about walking all the time. At some point she'll just sit on the side of the street wailing like a three-year-old toddler that she would walk no further. ( And Gandalf thought it would be difficult to walk around with 4 Hobbits *gggg *)   
I should call her at once. 

YEAHHHHH!!! Dana has agreed to come with me!! We will spent 3 weeks wandering in Tolkiens footsteps. 

I need my Tolkien paperback books.....all of them.....with me. And of the costumes, we can take pictures of us in elven costumes in the countryside that inspired Tolkien to write LOTR........I need at least three of my costumes, and......and not to forget.............hmmmm I need a laaaaaarge back pack, that's for sure.  
Do I really need some street clothing?....Do I? *sigh * Do I? I guess so.


	2. The old tree

The two months time until the trip finally started seemed far too long for Chris and far too short for me. If you run a one woman business, three weeks of absence can kill your customer relations if not carefully planned and I had lots of things to plan.   
Especially about 'Walking for more than ten hours a day if you drive down the two hundred yards for your breakfast usually with a car' and 'how many things can be stuffed into a backpack; and how much do you really need to be placed there?'

I was lucky that all my life, I was good at planning. I am not spontaneous and hate surprises, and therefore was able to hold even tight schedules in work that I had given to myself. Planning was everything to me; and this included analyzation of the situation and thinking about any possibility that might occur during unexpected problems.   
I never needed much sleep, even if I forced myself to seek my bed for at least seven hours per day; I spent most of the night thinking, and a part of the morning in writing down and reflecting my thoughts.

This journey was definitely not desired, but as I had gone on many journeys before, it was not too difficult for me to figure out by logic what I would need during a trip though the English countryside. 

I decided to take several pairs of good walking shoes, the usual underwear, jeans, sweaters and shirts that you take on such a trip; but also three corsets, one of my personal 'Elvish' gowns and cloaks, as we decided to take some pictures in the English woods, and, of course, the digital camera, a picture saving hard disk, and some of my very personal belongings.

I knew that Chris, because of her addiction, would take at least three times as much with her as I did, to compare the world Tolkien lived in with what was written in his books. 

She was a dreamer, someone who could really fall into daydreams.   
She was a little the opposite of myself, just believing what I could see and touch in person. Of course I had read the books when I was younger. Of course, I had seen the movies; at least the two parts that already had been shown in cinema. They impressed me, but not as much as they impressed her.   
Nevertheless, she passed on some of her fascination to me, when we talked for endless nights on the phone about this or that, about the characters, the scenes in the movies, the chapters of the book. 

The plane flight was tiring, as well as the first two days, which we decided to spend in London.   
After that, we headed to Egbaston, Birmingham, to see where Tolkien spent his youth 100 years ago.   
The town is inspiring, full of that what we would see as 'typical old English architecture', with the burnt brown stones and the white windows. We saw the ninety-six feet tall Perrot's Folly, a tower built in 1758 in Waterworks Road, and a tower chimney on a waterworks station, built in 1862, and both of us laughed at the inspiration these two huge towers might have given to Tolkien. 

So little did we know yet about his real inspiration. 

We saw the houses in Highfield Road, where Tolkien lived as a teenager, and Stirling Road, where he lived with his aunt when his mother had passed away. This whole part of his life made me very sad; and Chris was also very much affected. We decided to stay around in the small town a little longer, to walk in the footsteps of Tolkien. Despite of that, I was also happy as there were taxis in town that could prevent me from walking too much. 

As we wanted to take some pictures of the gowns we had brought, we were able to get to some of the more remote parts of Egbaston Park, maybe because the Wardens working were not the greatest in watching what they should have been watching or perhaps because of the late hour.

We walked through the old forest, some of the trees being older than Tolkien would be today. We imagined that maybe, at some point of time, he might have walked this particular forest as well, and asked ourselves if this would have been his inspiration for the Golden Woods of Caras Galadhon. Or maybe the Fangorn forest, and we laughed at each other when we tried to imitate some Ents, speaking with slow, dark voices and stalking with stiff legs through the wood. This trip was quiet fun, I thought, and I did not even feel silly when running childishly through the dark forest, imitating creatures that sprung from the great authors mind.

And finally, we found it. In a clearing - the moon was just passing through the clouds - we found a giant, old oak. I wondered how old it could be; I was barely able to see the top of the giant, old tree. 

"My God, Chris, have you ever seen such an ancient tree?"

She was speechless. 

In the light of my flashlight, I examined the old trunk of the tree. I could see old wood carvings over my head, seems as if we were not the only ones who admired that tree in its lifetime. Some years were also carved into the wood; some high above my head, so that I could barely read them. 

"1894 - Chris, 1894! I really wonder how old this tree is?"

"I have no idea... oh my, this is so beautiful!"

"Look", I pointed to the trunk at about chest height; "someone even tried to cut some kind of steps in here - wonder if these were children who wanted to build a tree house up there?"

"Wonder how the tree survived this?", was her answer. 

"Let's take some pictures; even if, I guess that the lightning will be bad."

"Let me take some of you first", Chris said and helped me to take my backpack off. I dressed quickly; it was quiet warm on that autumn evening, but not as warm that I would have wished to be without clothing for too long. I took some inches away from my loose corset lacing also; hey, who wouldn't want to look great in pictures!

The light blue silk velvet gown with the long, silvery sleeves fitted me well, kept me warm and draped softly around my legs. Chris took some pictures of me - standing next to the tree, in front of the tree... then she stopped. 

"Look up, there are some forks in the thicker branches about two yards above you. Do you think you can climb up there with the help of the old stairs? Then I could take a picture of you on that old tree!"

Climbing on trees was one of my favorites... when I was a small girl. Now, being corseted, with a floor length silk velvet gown and walking shoes, it was - well, difficult. "I will take off my shoes, otherwise I might not find these old holes in the stem", I replied. I took off shoes and socks, laid them aside. And climbed. It was not too easy to get my foot into the first stair hole; Chris had to help me. 

Afterwards, it was not too difficult - someone really had successfully built a staircase here, many, many years ago. 

I arrived where Chris wanted me to be; between the two stems that parted from the trunk below. It really was not too high, but for someone like me, with a fear for height, it was *very* high. 

"Chris, are you still below there? I can barely see you!"

"Sure I am, where else should I be?"

"Would you just start taking pictures – NOW? I am not feeling very good being up here." 

"No problem."

The flash of the camera took my eyesight, and suddenly I heard the cracking sound of footsteps in the wood below. 

"Hello, anybody there? Stand still, do not move!"

I was shocked, and because I could barely see anything below me, I took a step backwards... 

...and fell. the last thing I saw was this wood cutting in the branch my hand missed to grip. 

"JRRT"

And then, the light went out for me, after seeing a lightflash for just a second. 


	3. Into a different world

I gained consciousness again; but still could not see as there was a big, very bright light above me. The sun? No, it was night, there could be no sun. 

Shadows, silhouettes of three tall people showed up against the light, and I could not understand their language. They were talking, whispering... standing tall above me, obviously talking about me as I could see that from time to time, one of them pointed his finger at me. The language seemed familiar to me, even if I did not understand the meaning of their words. 

"Chris?" I tried to cover my eyes with my hand, making it possible for me to look at those people talking about me. The first thing I could stare upon were these shoes that one of them wore. 

Never in my life had I seen such craftsmanship on leather. The leather was etched, embroidered, cut and stamped, and looked like...

...leaves. Leaves wrapping around the foot. 

I stared at this leather artwork in disbelief. I looked up and saw these long, slim, yet muscular calf that came from the shoe; wrapped in greenish, beautiful cloth, and even if I came over many various types of weaving in my life as a seamstress, I had never seen anything like that before. 

"What the...?"

The sun over me came to my eyes again, when I removed the protective shield of my hand in surprise about the shoe and calf. 

The three looked at me, still I could not see them as they stood right before the sun. 

Sun? It was night when I fell off this tree! How could there be sunlight? There was no logic in this and that confused me. Maybe I'm dead. Or I am dreaming, I thought.

"Do you understand me?", one of them asked with a dark voice and an accent that I could not define, and reached down to offer his hand for me to get up. 

"Yes, I do... what is this here? What language were you talking? And where is Chri..."

This was the moment that his shadow covered my face, so that I could clearly see his, and I felt as if someone had laced my corset so tight that I could never breathe again. 

The first thing I saw were the eyes. A deep, unnatural shade of blue, which reminded me much of the blue eyes that I had seen in the movie Dune. The skin was absolutely even, no pore was visible, and it was covering an unnatural beautiful, even face.   
The hair, combed back, was almost white, with a slight hint of gold. If it had not been for the dark, yet firm, voice, I would not have known if I was looking at a male or female. The beauty of this face took my breath, and I could not stop staring at him, even if he looked at me as if I was the shit he had just stepped into; with highly raised, arched eyebrows and a cold look from his dark blue eyes. 

The beautiful, dark sensual, and still strong and commanding voice spoke to me again. Never, I thought, never have I seen such perfect teeth. 

"Who are you? Where did you come from, and what are you doing here?"

"I have - fallen off the tree...", I replied slowly, and pointed behind me, turning half around to show the tree. To my surprise, the tree that was behind me was even huger and taller than the one that I remembered to have climbed on. Well, maybe I was wrong, it was night when I climbed on that tree... 

...and then I saw the foliage. This was definitely no oak foliage. This was something that I had never seen before. The leaves were thick and huge, almost had the size of a magazine, and looked like pale green velvet. I picked up one that fell to the ground, examining it. It felt alive, and warm. Not cold and lifeless, as I was used from foliage that has fallen from a tree. 

"What is this? What kind of tree is..."

I turned around to him while speaking, looked at him. And my eyes got caught by a detail they missed the last time when studying his face. 

The ears. 

The ears were pointed up, in a slight curve. I blinked. This cannot be, I thought. Chris is playing a bad, bad joke with me. 

"OK, folks", I said, unsure, shivering, frozen, and took a step back. "What is going on here? Where is Chris?"

The tall Elf tipped his head aside, then exchanged some of these words in the strange language with his companions. 

"You fell off a tree?"

"Yes, that tree", and pointed behind me. 

The three were discussing in their own language again, and now I saw the bows and weapons they carried. No, I thought, this cannot be. I fell right into – 

"What's your name? Who are you?" was the only thing that I could ask. My brain seemed to be stirred up with a mixer. 

"My name", the Elf replied, "is Haldir, and you are now in the Golden Woods of Lothlorien. You are a Border Crosser, meaning you have crossed the border between your world and our world when you fell off the tree."

I felt dizzy, very, very dizzy; and the ground beneath my feet did not stable any more. 

The last thing I saw and remembered were his raised, arched eyebrows, with the arrogant look of the deep blue eyes below them, before I fell to unconsciousness into the soft, fallen leaves of a mallorn tree. 


	4. Border Crosser

When I awoke, I was lying in bed. I could feel the soft pillow below me, and a sheet over my body. Good, I thought, when I remembered what I dreamt. I am at home, in my bed.   
And then I opened my eyes. 

This was not my bed.

I was in a large room, filled with light that came from big windows. I looked around, and the interior was incredible.   
Beautifully painted wall hangings. The floor made of finest wood; etched. The ceiling seemed to be an intricate artwork of woven leaves.   
And on the chair, next to me, sat a woman. She was reading in an old, leather wrapped book, and did not seem to notice that I turned my head to her.   
Her face was of this incredible beauty, just as the face that I saw on Haldir; with that flawless skin, these deep, dark, bright blue eyes; the absolutely even face - and these pointed ears. 

Did I just think 'Haldir'?

I turned my head towards the ceiling and stared.   
This cannot be, I thought; I need to wake up from this dream. 

The she-Elf remarked as I turned my head and looked at me with a distant, still friendly and warm smile.   
"So you woke up, finally; we thought you would never wake up."   
She laid her book aside, with a grace in just the simple movement of her arm that would have put a perfect ballet dancer to the shame of imperfection, and looked at me with an intensity that I had never experienced from anyone that ever looked at me before. It seemed that this look could see to the very bottom of my soul. 

And then, like a flashlight or daydream, I could see a pair of even more intensive blue eyes looking at me. A voice filled my head; more a whispering, but loud, as if it had been spoken by someone close to my ear; but there was nobody.

"The Border Crosser is awake.... a human woman crossed the border between the worlds..."

The woman sitting by my bed didn't seem to hear or see what I just saw, but got up. "The Lady would like to see you. She is very curious how a female became a Border Crosser."

I got up to sit on my bed, discovering that I was not wearing my gown any more, just the corset.   
"Who took my gown from me? Where is it?"  
She still did not take her eyes from me.   
"We took the gown off when they brought you here, two days ago; but we were not sure about your... foundations... we thought you might wear this for medical purposes, so we just left you wearing it, especially because we do not quite know how to remove it."  
This explained much, especially the pain around my hips, where the boning of the corset had twitched to my skin while lying. 

Just a moment. 

"Two days? You mean I have been here, sleeping, for two days?"  
"Yes... the Lady thought that you should sleep, after the shock that you might have been in."  
"Shock. Yes." I murmured, still thinking that I still had to sleep, but still wondered about if this was a nightmare or a good dream.   
"What's your name? How are you called?", I asked the elven woman.   
"My name is Uruviel", she replied.   
Uruviel. Yes, I had heard that name before...

"I am Dana Michaels," I tried to introduce myself. Dream or not, I always tried to be polite.  
"We will get you in some clothing, Dana Michaels; the Lady would like to see you."

"What Lady?" I asked, even if I could imagine, yet not believe.   
"Lady Galadriel, the Lady of light."

This definitely had to be a dream. Slow down, Dana, I thought, you will wake up in a matter of time. Where are my cigarettes? I never wanted one as bad as I did at that moment.   
Uruviel brought my dress. I slipped into it in trance, and stared at the image of my face in the mirror, when she brushed my hair. I am waking up soon, I thought, no need to worry.   
When she finished brushing, which seemed to take ages, she asked me to follow her, and I did without asking anything more. The door of the room, which seemed to have been grown instead of being built into the wall of the room, opened and offered the view of the treetops, which were covered with beautifully built (or grown?) houses; little lights on stairways between them... and a deep, deep look down to where the ground should be. I stepped back in a shock.

"I cannot go out", I said, with my eyes wide open.   
"Why not?"  
"I am afraid of the height."  
"Just follow me - keep your eyes on me, do not look down. It is not dangerous."  
I tried to obey her, not to look down, just follow her... it was not easy. 

Her moves were the ones of a perfect being. When she walked in her floor length dress, it did not look like walking, it looked as if she slid over the ground, without making any sound. I became so impressed with her moves, that it suddenly became easy to follow her command. 

I just tried to imitate her moves, which, of course, didn't work out. I was used to swinging my hips while walking, show my legs moving while walking. What she did was more some kind of flying than walking, or at least it looked like that. 

The air was filled with the smell of flowers; and in the distance, I could hear singing, beautiful singing, which seemed familiar, but which I did not understand. Dream or not, I thought, it was interesting to observe this place, to look at everything.

The walking stopped, and we stood in front of a small, yet wide staircase, which was bordered by the evenly grown branches of the tree that it was built upon. Anything within these buildings seemed to be perfect. I quickly forgot about all home designer magazines, which I considered to be perfect until then. This was absolute perfection, being built by the nature itself, as it seemed. 

And then, she came down the stairs towards me. 

She seemed to glow from the inside of her skin. The blue eyes were intensive, almost as if there was a hidden blacklight somewhere. I have no idea how to describe this; it was as if she filled the room with her presence. I could actually not only see, but feel her coming closer. She had such an intensive aura that it almost took my breath away, and her eyes that rested on me all the time when she came down that staircase seemed to looked into my heart, my brain, my soul. I knew these eyes; I had seen them before in my daydream. 

The feelings that I had when she came down the stairs were mixed. Her presence seemed to give some of her own mood to me, and I shivered. There was melancholy, a lot of melancholy. And sadness. Also wisdom in unbelievable amounts. Before I had seen her, the wisest person I ever had known was my grandmother at the age of 86. Now, seeing this Elven woman, the lady of all of them, I understood what wisdom really was. 

I resisted to ask where the famous Celeborn was. And then, when she stood right before me, just two yards away, I was overwhelmed by her presence and beauty, and fell to my knees. 

"My Lady, I am honored to..." Lack of words to describe what I felt came over me.   
She reached out to me, lifting my chin up to look at her face with a perfect hand. 

"I know what you feel, so do not be ashamed, Dana. I have waited for you, I knew you would come."

Her voice was dark, not as dark as Haldirs, but still unusual for a woman. I finally had to give up the thinking about expecting normal human voices here, I guessed. 

"You are welcome to our land, Dana... Border Crossers are rare, and special; and we never had a woman crossing the border."

*I* was rare and special? This Lady who would have beaten the presence of any famous person that had any kind of charisma I heard or experienced before, told me I was special?

"Please, My Lady, I do not want to be unkind, but would you explain to me what happened? I have no idea what I might have done to cross the border you are talking about; nor do I have any idea on how to get back." Thinking that I might have offended her, I added: "It is not that it is not beautiful here, I mean, I would really like to stay here, but I would like to know, well, can I ever go back?"

The lady smiled, the sweetest smile I had ever seen. Slowly but surely it came to my mind that I saw many things here that I had never seen before.   
"Come with me, Dana... I will explain to you what happened."  
She turned around, sliding up the stairs as if she had no feet but wings below her skirt. 

I followed her, surprised, a little afraid, and also ashamed; even if I did not know why I had this feeling. Was it because she was so perfect? Was it because I knew that never in my life, even if I practiced for years, would I be able to move up stairs as elegantly as she did?

We ended up in a great, dark room, lit with candles. Books stored all over in it; in shelves, on the floor, on a large table in the middle. 

"This is my husbands library", she said.   
"Celeborn?" I asked.   
"Yes," she answered, and for the very first time I saw something like a surprise in her eyes. 

We both sat down at the table; she folded her hands before her, and looked at me. 

"Dana, you are a Border Crosser. This is what we call people that have found the way on how to travel between our worlds - yours and mine."

"But how is this possible?" I asked, as I had no idea how else I could ask this.

"Our worlds - yours and mine - exist in the same space, but in different dimensions and different times. There are some places in our both worlds that allow beings from both worlds to pass between them. You are not the first one who found this entrance; and I guess you will probably not be the last."

A very strange idea came to my head; and I thought about asking.

"One of the Border Crossers - he must have come here some time ago - was he called John? John Tolkien?"  
She smiled, again with this secret smile.   
"Yes, he has been here, and will come back soon."  
"Will come back soon? But then he cannot come any more, he's dead!"

She smiled, again. 

"As I have told you, we are dealing with different time - and kinds of time - here. If something happened in your world before your time, it is not necessary that it will have to happen here before your time as well. You see, this world is in some kind of constant repeat. We have discovered that we, if our time repeats, forget what has happened the last time; almost all of us do not know what they have done before what they are doing now some other times before." 

She took a deep breath, and the emotion that she was sending out changed to - agony? Despair? I didn't know, but the room seemed to become darker under her sadness that I could sense. 

"Some of us, nevertheless, do not forget what happened the last time; and this is what makes us their leaders. People like you - Border Crossers - are for these ones of us a very welcome change if they appear; as your behavior can change many things and make us learn new things if you appear the first time."

"So you mean I am here now the first time?"

"Yes, you are. And therefore, I cannot foresee completely what will happen. I sensed that there would come a new Border Crosser, but nothing that would come afterwards. Please, be careful with my people and land."

"My Lady, I will be careful with your people, be assured."

"There is something else - your return to the other world. Every fortnight, you will have to return for at least two hours to your own world - to equalize the weight in both worlds. You see, you brought your own weight - not only the physical, but also the mental weight - of yourself to our world, and it is missing in your world now. If the weight is missing for more than a fortnight, the passages between the worlds might collapse due to the weight that is missing or too much in either of our worlds.   
But there is something else I will have to tell you; for each day that you spend here, only a minute in your own world will pass, but not vice versa. This means, the people in your world will not remark too much that you are missing; but if you go back for your two hours, we will have to wait two hours for you as well.   
There is only one way to avoid having to go back; and this is by exchanging the weight of the worlds. If a Border Crosser of either worlds would like to stay in the other world, he or she must find someone from the different world to take his or her place."

"But why should anyone want this? If you can cross the border so easily, and with almost no loss of time?"

"Because you can cross the border only ten times within your life; afterwards, it is closed for you forever. You may, even though, give some of the ten times given to you to another one. You can even bring someone with you, but your staying time here will then go to half; this means, both of you can only stay a week here, and you loose two passings instead of one when bringing someone here."

This made me think of the possibilities; but I also thought about something else. 

"My lady," I asked, "you said that the timeline might be different for different Border Crossers. If this is so - which age are we in your time? What about the one ring, has it been destroyed yet?"

"What do you know about the ring?" she asked, and the mood in the room became fearing.  
"Well," I said, "as I have told you, I know Mr. Tolkien who is yet to come. I do not know him in person; I just know his books. His books are very famous in our world."  
"He wrote books?" Her eyes widened.

"Yes, he wrote "The lord of the rings", and some other stuff, which became very famous in our world. Many people have read and studied these books. It is something like a fairy tale in our world.". 

"LORD of the RINGS?" Her voice was loud and amused. She leaned back, the mood in the room switched to brightness, happiness. "So he told our story?" 

"Yes, he did; and he was very successful. And then there was Peter Jackson, who..."

The Lady of Light interrupted me, for the first time. "Peter-the-Jacks-son, the hobbit-like human Border Crosser?" 

I started giggling, and was surprised. "He is a Border Crosser?"

Hobbit like human Border Crosser. The words came to my ears, and I started laughing immediately. The hobbit of them all. I remembered having seen that man in his pink shirt and short trousers on the set, when I watched some of the "Making of". 

"Yes", she added, "he is; a traveler. He travels around middle earth for quiet some time now, and has seen many places that are in reach for a Border Crosser; he even brought people with him twice, so at the moment, he is having his last but one stay here, if he finds nobody who is willing to take his place in his world."

I was rather surprised. "Peter is *here*, at this moment?"

"Yes, he is. He is down in the gardens with my husband, and they are discussing Elvish history, as far as I know. He has twelve more days; then he will have to go. But he is awaiting the arrival of John in a week."

"It does not affect the weight of the worlds if different Border Crossers are here?"

"No, it does not seem to."

And then, something came back to my mind, from my world. 

"Lad Galadriel, may I go back to my world? I have someone there, she is a very dear friend of mine, and I would like to show her this world here. It would mean so much to her."

"Sure, you are a Border Crosser... you can do whatever you want; but be careful of the affects that your actions may have on my people."

"Just one more question. The ring... the war... when will it start?"

"It has already begun. The nine are currently in Moria, and expected here in some days."

"Some days? You mean, Peter and John came here for this event? I mean, to see them arrive in Lothlorien?"

She smiled, again the room without windows seemed to fill with sunlight.   
"Yes, I guess this is their plan... however, think of what I have told you... be careful what you do and say towards the nine, it might affect their journey, and I am not sure what will happen if the ringbearer fails on his attempt to destroy the one ring."

I went quiet. She had forgotten that they were only eight she would see here. 

"Yes, I will be careful."

...the mixer stirred up my brain again...

"Lady Galadriel, I would like to take a look around your town, your woods, to learn more about you and your people. May I?"

"Certainly, Dana, feel free to walk around. I will give you Uruviel to guide you, so that you can ask her if you have questions."

"Thank you. Right now, I would like to take a walk on the ground... I am not yet firm in walking around on treetops."

There it was again, this incredible smile that made one forget anything that was experienced before.

"Just go out, Uruviel will be waiting for you."

On the outside, I took a deep breath to tidy up my thoughts.

__

My God, what a chance. A chance to learn, a chance to live. A chance for experience. And Chris! What eyes she would make if I showed her this!

Uruviel looked at me, with her even face. I smiled at her. 

"Uruviel; please, I need a guide."  
"Yes, the lady already told me so."

"Please... teach me anything. Show me anything. I want to learn as much as possible."

She laughed, but it was not the warm laughter that I experienced of the Lady Galadriel.

"Teach? You? You would need more than your lifetime to learn just a little piece of what I could teach you; and in best case, you only have 140 days. What could I possibly teach to you?"

I knew that Elves did not like the humans, as well as I knew that Elves were considered arrogant; but this was really hard. 

I tried to catch up the subject in a friendly way, as I thought that if she would be my guide. I would prefer to have her friendly towards myself instead of being 'just the silly human who cannot learn anything' to her.   
Women, at least the human, were always affected by compliments to their own person; and I thought that Elvish women would not be too different.

"What about - hair and skin care, to start with? You look so beautiful; I would like to know how you care for yourself?"

She tipped her head a little aside, seemed as she had to think about it, but just for a second.

"I agree", she said, as I hoped for, but not without adding "and I would like to learn how the women of your world keep their waist so small. Can you teach me?" 

Ah, the corset issue, and I congratulated myself again on being corseted.   
"Yes, I will tell you how that works."

~ TBC ~


	5. A wonderful view

To my dear Reviewers:  
Thank you for all your friendly words. I guess I have to say some things.   
First, my native language is German, not English. Therefore I would kindly ask you to excuse any mistakes I might make.   
Second, I am writing this for fun next to my normal work.   
This story has already been published in an Elf Ficition Archive - but there it was posted rated as NC-17; and to be able to post it here, I have to re-write some parts of it.   
I love writing, really; but I cannot take more time for it than I have. So what would you like to have more; a bad written, but frequently updated story or a well written and more seldomly updated story...? ;-)

~*~*~*~*~*

Uruviel lead me through endless gardens, giving me an almost endless dialogue about herbal names, and which were good for or against certain issues of skin and hair care for hours. 

I think I forgot about ninety percent of what she told me the minute she did. 

I was overwhelmed with the beauty of this place. 

The impressions the place gave to me were not easily taken in. My poor brain was full with everything I had experienced and learned within that single day, still trying to think about the most important issues. 

In the evening, Uruviel brought me back to the room - my room - and wished me a good night; not without leaving me with endless flacons of fragrances, shampoo, washing and cleaning and caring and whatever lotions and an almost one hour explanation on how to use these things. 

One phial contained the "fluid of youth", she said this was the most important thing Elven women used; and so, after undressing and uncorsetting myself, I washed my body with clear water (which actually came flowing from a place in the wall, being collected on leaves that grew from the wall - fascinating!) and used the fluid afterwards. 

It was impressive - the skin seemed to be tighter, fresher and even a little glowing after using the fluid.

I looked into the mirror, and was quiet satisfied. Of course, I could never achieve the beauty of the ever young, immortal Elves; but for a 32 years old human women, I did not look too bad; quite well, to be exact, and if I was honest. 

My bleached blonde hair fell far over my shoulders to the waist; my waist - again corseted, with the corset that I had washed and dried in some kind of warm airstream which was moving constantly on one edge of the room while I washed myself - was small as ever, and my skin smelled of roses. 

I stood by the glassless window, leaning to the frame, and looked out over Caras Galadhon, over which the night fell slowly. The air was still filled with singing and the smell of flowers; and the trees were sparking from the lights in them. 

In the tree on the left, Haldir seemed to have his place to live. 

I darkened the light in my room, to be able to watch him from the darkness of my own room. He sat by the table, reading books and writing something. Each and every move of the March Warden seemed perfect. 

I took a deep breath when he took his shirt of to get ready for the bed. I have had men in my life, but what I saw there was breathtaking; I had never seen such a perfectly build, muscular, yet slim and tall man. 

My hand was trying to cover my eyes. Why did I have the feeling of doing something forbidden when watching him? Maybe, I thought, I am not worthy to see such beauty; and had to giggle quietly. 

It was really a very quiet giggling; but anything happening thereafter went very quick. I barely noticed that he looked my way, and at the same moment, the lights went out in his room. 

No, I thought, he cannot have seen or heard me. We are too far apart and it is far too dark here. 

Half a minute later, I heard a knock on my door. 

Expecting this to be Uruviel, I just said "come in", wondering if she would like to learn something about corsets that late at night, and congratulated myself quietly on the decision on having cleaned and relaced my corset...

...in the door stood Haldir, dressed in his tunic and pants again. 

I wondered how he managed to dress so fast and come up here? Well, I thought, the speed of the Elves is famous; I should slowly start to believe this.

I tried to hide my body behind a chair, no success, I guess, as the back was high but broken through with delicate wood cutting works.

"Oh - Sir - what gives me the honor of your visi..."

"You watched me!"

I got caught. As always, I thought that telling the truth would be a good idea. 

"Yes, I wanted - uhm, watched you."

And there it was, the question that I did not expect:   
"Why did you do this?"

Win some time, Dana. 

"Uhm - why did I do what?"

"Why did you watch me?"

OK, no way out, flight forward, the truth. 

"Uhm - well - OK - I do not see Elves every day, especially not Elvish man, and even more rarely I see Elvish men who undress themselves. Isn't it some kind of treasure to be able to watch something that you find beautiful and will maybe never see again in your life?"

Now it was up to him to be at a loss of words. 

"Well... you... you could have asked me!"

"Hello? How should I have asked you, screaming at the top of my lungs all over Caras Galadhon that I would like to watch you while undressing or what?"

Did I see his face blushing at that moment? No, for sure not the proud, arrogant March Warden of Lothlorien.

"Well... you could have come over to ask me."

I raised my brows. 

"You are not serious, right?"

Did I make him feel unsure? Was the light giving more blush to this proud Elf?

"Uhm... no, I mean, yes. Well, I will go now." He closed the door behind him. 

I thought for just a moment, then ran after him. Always trying to be polite...

"Haldir?"; I called him back. 

"Yes", he said from the distance.

"Come back, for just a moment, please."

He stepped back quickly to me; again, this unbelievable elegance in any movement he made. 

"Would you mind if I would watch you when you undress? Only if your light is turned on, of course..."

He told me to ask, didn't he?

And there it was, just for a part of a second; but I saw it. He smiled; then fell back to his serious face.

"My lady, nobody asked this from me before, so how could I deny your request?" 

He almost turned around to go, but seemed to have remembered something and turned back. 

"But My lady", he whispered in my ear, which made me shiver, "You should remember that my permission to you should also be permission to me to watch you - and remember, we Elves do not need light to see someone..."

My jaw dropped, I was speechless, and watched him walk away.

That arrogant and selfish bastard.

Some minutes later, when I had put my jaw back in place and myself into the room, I wondered if the March Warden really hid some sense of humor deep inside of him, I lurked through my window and saw his light on again. 

There he stood... the silvery, silk like tunic on his body shimmered in the pale light of his room. One simple, elegant move of arms and chest - he had undressed from the tunic. I felt shivers chasing over my arms and spine by just looking at him, breathed deeply and took my place by the window, completely forgetting that he could see me this way at well, in my corset. 

He stood by the mirror of his room, unbraiding his long, pearl blonde hair, and brushing it carefully with gentle strokes. 

Afterwards, he washed himself with clear water, and the way his hand caressed his own skin and body made me think that anything I had ever heard or known about skin care were only rough methods - no wonder the Elves had such beautiful skin!

He braided his hair for the night, and even if I had never seen a man braiding his own hair before, every touch seemed so sensual, so gentle, that slowly but surely I felt a wish that he could braid my hair one day. 

Or braid my body. 

Or whatever. 

Or no matter what. 

Haldir, the hairdresser, I thought.

Oh, how dizzy he made me, just by allowing me to look at him caring for his hair. 

I tidied my thoughts. Allowing me to look at him? What kind of arrogance is that?

No more matters of any thoughts a well educated, sophisticated woman should have about that, my jaw dropped when he turned his back on me... to take his pants off. 

Oh my, this was the most beautiful backside of any human man that I had ever seen in my whole life. Oh my, this *is* not a human man, this is a perfect being, I revised my former thoughts.

I stared at him, mouth half open, and completely forgot where I was. 

And then, just the head of the March Warden turned around to me, smiling, grinning, waving me goodbye with his strong hand... and his light went out. 

For some time, I could not move - I do not remember if these were seconds or minutes, but I guess it were just seconds. Then I finally realized where I was, and that he knew that I was watching all the time - and started to grin that kind of girlish smile. 

I knew he was still there, in the shadow of his room. I could just see the bright hair catching some of the light; but it showed me that he was standing in his room, looking up to my window. 

A naked Elf was watching me from his room. Now, if that is not... exciting, I thought; and actually was excited. 

I slowly moved to the light of the window with my pounding heart; pretending not to know that he was out there, watching me from the shadow of his room. I leaned towards over the window sill, breathing deeply the fresh night air. Looked down, which reminded me how high I was above the ground and I leaned back. 

I turned around, sideways, so that he could see how I opened the knot on my backside and slightly loosened the corset lacing with my both hands on the backside. My hands went to the frontside and opened the busk; and a moment later, I could place my corset over the back of the chair. I took of my brief, and placed it on the chair, waved over my shoulder to the place where I knew that he was watching me... and went to my bed to face a night with almost no sleep, thinking about what happened over the day and about what happened that evening. 

Haldir of Lorien, I thought, I think I breathed so loud when you took off your pants that you could have shot me in the dark... Oh my, why don't you come over in the dark to shoot me... 

I giggled at that possibility; and finally fell into a dreamless and short sleep. 

~*~

To be continued...


End file.
